The ACE Group Insurance Review

Compare Insurance Quotes

Currently Insured?

Credit Rating

Homeowner

The ACE Group is a massive multinational insurance provider. Through its various subsidiaries, it offers coverage in 50 countries throughout Europe, Latin America, Asia and North America, including the U.S. and Canada. The company’s primary headquarters are in Zurich, Switzerland, where it was founded in 1985. In less than 30 years, the company’s size has exploded, employing more than 20,000 people and controlling more than $92 billion in assets.

In the U.S., ACE offers several types of insurance through a few different subsidiaries. Its primary products are property and casualty coverage, but it also sells business insurance for risk management, accident and some health insurance. All of ACE’s policies are sold through independent agencies, not directly through its website or through dedicated agents, so the first you learn of ACE might be a recommendation from your insurance broker.

Insurance Products

Personal Insurance

ACE sells coverage for cars, homes and valuables, with a heavy emphasis on insurance for wealthy customers. Its products are brokered under the heading of “Private Risk,” and they are designed for individuals with a high net worth.

Among the products that can be insured through ACE are high-valued homes, condominiums, vacation homes, car collections, fine art, antiques, and yachts. Policies are purchased in a package to provide thorough coverage of several aspects at once, so home and auto policies would be bundled together in most cases.

Auto Insurance

Aside from targeting higher-value vehicles, the auto insurance sold by ACE is similar to the coverage sold by any other company. However, ACE does differ significantly in two major ways. First, vehicles are valued at an agreed-value ahead of time, rather than on an ongoing basis. This is a common way of handling value for rare or collectible vehicles.

The second notable difference is there are no daily caps or limits on rental vehicles while your car is being repaired. You will be provided with a rental car of a similar type as the vehicle is in the shop. This differs from most insurers, who will usually place a cap of around $30 per day on rental expenses.

You can further customize your policy in a few notable ways. You can choose a new-car replacement policy, allowing you to replace your totaled vehicle with a newer model. You can also purchase a policy with liability limits higher than those offered through standard insurers as a way to protect the assets of high-income customers. Since wealthy policyholders are a more attractive target for lawsuits, carrying high liability limits is a good way to curtail potential litigation.

Additional Products

Home Insurance

Since the high-income clients courted by ACE will generally have expensive homes, the coverages offered cater to those needs. In the event of a total loss, you can choose to fully replace the home or simply receive a cash settlement based on its full value, even if the home’s value exceeds the policy’s coverage limits. Additionally, there is no depreciation applied toward a home’s contents, so you would receive the replacement value of any items destroyed in a covered loss.

Some additional coverages that would be optional through other providers come standard with ACE home policies. Among these are insurance for fraud, identity theft, and kidnapping/ransom.

Umbrella Insurance

Since wealthy people will have many more assets to lose in the event of a lawsuit, umbrella insurance and other forms of personal liability coverage become increasingly important as your income goes up. ACE, as an insurer of high-income customers, offers extensive personal liability coverage with limits up to $100 million.

Umbrella insurance exists to fill in the gaps not covered by other types of protection. It covers the cost of settlements as well as legal counsel.

Business Insurance

ACE offers business insurance products for companies of all sizes and in numerous industries, including aerospace, healthcare, and manufacturing. Aside from standard coverages like liability and risk management, the company also sells various types of marine loss control services and protections for multinational companies.

Ace Insurance Company Rates

Since ACE sells its products through independent agents rather than directly to customers, there’s little rate information available on the site. The website in general seems heavily focused toward providing information to agents rather than end-users, and it’s so packed with information that finding anything is a bit of a challenge.

It’s reasonable to assume that ACE’s premiums would be fairly high. A company that primarily courts corporations and wealthy individuals can afford to charge high premiums, and the coverages offered by the company (particularly its very high liability limits) would not be cheap to provide. With the increase in premiums you should expect a better overall experience as well.

Claims

Commercial insurance products have different phone numbers to call depending on the type of policy you hold. Visit the ACE website to find the correct one for your situation.

Consumer Research and Complaints

Reviews seem to be mixed. In 2004, ACE was the subject of an investigation for possible questionable practices, including improper accounting. The inquiry was resolved through an $80 million settlement, halting the inquiry from going any further, although the insurance company did say it would look further into the issue.

Financial Strength

Rating Company

Grade

Financial Outlook

AM Best

A++

Stable

Fitch

AA

Stable

S&P

AA

Stable

Bottom Line

ACE is a massive company, although it’s not as well-known in the U.S. as it seems to be internationally. Its consumer products are definitely geared toward high-income customers, and the coverages offered may not be relevant to someone with fewer assets to protect. Since it is geared for the affluent, expect to pay more in premiums than you would through a standard insurer.

Compare Insurance Quotes

Currently Insured?

Credit Rating

Homeowner

Review Information

Summary

Reviewer

Eric Stauffer

Review Date

2017-06-18

Reviewed

The ACE Group

Author Rating

3

About Eric Stauffer

I am a former insurance agent and banker turned consumer advocate. My priority is to help educate individuals and families about the different types of insurance they need, and assist them in finding the best place to get it.

Reader Interactions

Comments

I had a small fire on my boat that I quickly put out, There was minimal damage but it was more than my deductible so I filed a claim. The claim was handled by CHUBB who underwrites the policies for ACE. The claims person sent out an inspector who probably cost more than my claim since he drove 180 miles to look at the boat. He said he could not determine the cause of the fire (it was an electrical short). The claims adjuster said it was a corroded exhaust hose and was not covered. I told her I had 3 other identical hoses on the boat that showed no corrosion and she told me that the corrosion was caused by the fire. She determined that the cause of the fire was a part that was damaged by the fire. She denied my claim and will no longer respond. She said that it was their right to defend themselves against me. It is not worth filing a law suit because the damage was minimal, the boat is already fixed. She knew that so she did not need a real reason to deny my claim. A lawyer would cost me more than the repairs. I am their customer, not their adversary. I will be cancelling my policy and looking for insurance through a better provider. I would not recommend dealing with a company that takes a such a hostile view of their premium paying customers.

Terrible service!!!!!
It is now 9:30 pm, I have been waiting for more than an hour for the customer service to call me back to confirm if they are sending a crane to help me, and finally they called me back to say “we are sorry but all our providers are busy, you can look by yourself and we will pay the amount.
I feel I have been stolen, I have been paying the insurance for nothing!!!!
I have no way to leave my truck here, and it is disgusting to hear only apologies.
Definitely the worst service ever!!!!!

The worst insurance company I have EVER dealt with. I was involved in a hit and run with one of their drivers..and lets just say they took their time (3 months after I reported the incident) to do ANYTHING on my case. If you get an adjuster named [Redacted] from their Texas branch..RUN! Extremely unprofessional..she basically flat out told me that (with 2 witnesses) her driver didn’t hit my car (let’s just add that it was 2 months before they sent someone out to look at the individuals car) ….which gave the driver 2 months to fix his car up before inspected. Worse insurance company ever, be prepared to hire a private attorney, or go through small claims court with these crooks.